Shoe-tree.



Patented May 7,190l.

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Zfiwaaea: Mai 'eozyelifieloken UNITED STATES PATENT rtrcE.

GEORGE E. BELOHER, OF STOUGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE-TREE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,492, dated May '7, 1901.

Application filed October 25, 1900i Serial No. 34,388. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. BELCHER, of Stoughton, in the county of Norfolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Shoe-Tree, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a plan view, partly in section, of one of my improved shoe-trees. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows the tree about to be put into a shoe, the shoe in section, and the position of the parts after the tree is in position is shown in dotted lines. Fig. 4 shows a modification. My invention is an improved tree for shoes and the like, adjustable to various sizes of shoes, the adjustment being automatically effected.

The tree consists of two partsthe fore part or toe part A, designed to fit into the forward end of the shoe, and the handle or toggle part B, designed to be forced or wedged against the inside of the counter to force the part A into the forward end of the shoe. The forward end of the part B is a slotted blade 1), preferably of metal. The slot in this blade has a multiplicity of recesses 01 along its upper edge, and these recesses preferably slant, as shown in the drawings, Figs. 2 and 4;. The part A has at its rear under side a slot a, designed to receive the blade I), and the two parts A and B are connected by a pin 6, driven through the part A and passing through the slot in the blade I). The rear or free end of part A is rounded off in order that it may easily engage without defacing the inside of the counter of the shoe.

Obviously the lower side of the slotted blade may, if it is desired, be dispensed with, and the blade will then cease to be a slotted blade and become merely a blade with recesses in its lower edge; but the slotted blade which I have described and illustrated is the best form, inasmuch as it keeps the two parts A and B connected together under all circumstances, Figs. 2 and 4. Obviously, also, the pin e need not necessarily be driven through the slot in the toe part from side to side, but may be a staple driven into the rear end of the toe part across the slot, the cross-bar of the staple crossing the slot in the toe part A,- or a bar may be screwed or otherwise secured to the rear end of the toe part A across the slot to perform the function of the pin e. These two structures are equivalents of the pin 6, which, in my opinion, is the best construction for the purpose.

The mode of operation is as follows: The part A is forced forward by the hand into the shoe and the part B pulled backward to such a distance as the operator considers proper to give the required wedging action, when the part B is forced down against the inside of the counter, the blade I) engaging the pin 6 by one of the recesses 01. As the part B is forced down inside the counter the part A is forced forward in the shoe, stretching and straightening it. To disengage the tree from the shoe, the handle B is pulled up and the tree withdrawn from the shoe.

What I claim is l. The shoe-tree above described, made up of a fore part A and the rear part B, the parts A and B being connected by a pin 6, fast to the fore part, and by a slotted blade b, having a multiplicity of recesses along the upper edge of that slot, to engage pin 6, said recesses being open at one end and slanting from said open end toward the part B.

2. The shoe-tree, made up of the fore part A and the rear part B, the fore part having a slot a, and the parts A and B being connected by a blade 6, having recesses d, the said blade working in the slot at and the recesses d cooperating with a pin e across said slot or; that pin 6; all combined and operating substantially as described.

3. The shoe-tree, made up of a fore part A and the rear part B, the parts A and B being connected by a pin e, fast 'to the fore part, and by a blade I), having a multiplicity of re cesses, d, to engage pin c, said recesses being open at one end and slanting from the open end toward part B; that pin 6; all combined and operating substantially as described.

GEORGE E. BELOHER.

Witnesses:

OLIVER R. MITCHELL, JOSEPH T. BRENNAN. 

